Jeffrey J. Parker - Sheppard Mullin
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Jeffrey J. Parker
Partner T: +1.213.617.5586
333 South Hope Street F: +1.213.620.1398
Forty-Third Floor jparker@sheppardmullin.com
Los Angeles, CA 90071
Jeff Parker is a partner in the firm's Los Angeles office, where he specializes in complex commercial, products
liability, and environmental litigation through trial and appeal, as well as environmental law. Although based in
Los Angeles, he routinely handles matters throughout the entire state and works out of the firm's many offices.
Areas of Practice
Jeff’s clients range from family-owned businesses to multi-national corporations in many diverse industries
such as energy, petroleum, chemicals, aerospace and defense, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, real estate,
construction, financial services, high-tech, computer manufacturing, consumer goods, sporting goods, and
transportation.
He has extensive experience in complex commercial, environmental, and tort litigation and environmental
counseling. His commercial litigation experience includes actions involving ownership of intellectual property,
rights of first refusal, shareholder disputes, challenges to mergers, corporate dissolution, breach of contract,
injunctions, and allegations of fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and violation of the Unfair Competition Law (UCL)
and the Consumer Legal Remedies Act (CLRA). His environmental and tort litigation experience includes dozens
of products liability actions in California State and Federal District Courts and multi-district litigation
proceedings in the Southern District of New York that arise out of MTBE contamination of drinking water
aquifers, as well as actions brought under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and
Liability Act ("CERCLA"), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act ("RCRA"), California Proposition 65, the
Clean Air Act, the California Hazardous Substances Account Act, and various state and federal criminal laws,
environmental laws, or tort doctrines. He has experience in all aspect of litigation, including discovery, motions,
settlement negotiations, mediation, arbitration, trial, appeal, and writ practice.
He has helped clients develop Prop 65 warnings programs and has guided clients through evaluating and
responding to numerous pre-lawsuit notices of intent to sue under various state and federal statutes. He has
also advised clients with respect to the California Air Resources Board and South Coast Air Quality
Management District variance proceedings, Regional Water Quality Control Board permit proceedings, and
resulting writs of mandate. Also, he has advised clients for 25 years on voluntary and agency mandated
investigation and remediation of contaminated land, response to agency orders, handling of hazardous
substances, and evaluation of potential human exposure to chemicals.
Recent Trial and Litigation Experience
www.sheppardmullin.comIn 2019, he defended Exxon Mobil Corporation and ExxonMobil Oil Corporation in a jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Orange County Water District v. Unocal, et al., a product liability and nuisance lawsuit that was initially part of a Federal multi-district litigation matter in the Southern District of New York, then remanded to California for trial. The plaintiff initially sought hundreds of millions in damages, but the case settled very favorably after the defendants’ opening statements. Earlier in the case, he obtained a major summary judgment victory in the Southern District of New York, disposing of most of the claims asserted by the plaintiff. In 2013, he obtained summary judgment on 4 of 5 claims in City of Merced Redevelopment Agency v. Exxon Mobil Corporation, et al., a Federal multi-district litigation matter in the Southern District of New York. In 2015, after transfer to the Eastern District of California for trial, he prevailed on a second motion for summary judgment dismissing the plaintiff’s remaining claim for cost recovery under the Polanco Act. In 2013, he obtained summary judgment on all claims in Orange County Water District v. SABIC Innovative Plastics, et al. The case involved a claim for tens of millions of dollars in purported future damages associated with alleged groundwater contamination in Orange County asserted against approximately 40 property owners and manufacturers. In 2013, he obtained a TRO and preliminary injunction against the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, enjoining an order shutting down Exide Technologies’ lead recycling facility in Vernon, California. He was also co-lead trial counsel in a related administrative trial against the Department of Toxic Substances Control. In 2011-2012, he was lead trial counsel for Exxon Mobil Corporation in City of Merced v. Chevron U.S.A. Inc., et al., a 4½ month products liability jury trial in Merced Superior Court. He obtained dismissal or directed verdict of punitive damages and millions of dollars in claimed compensatory damages, followed by a favorable jury verdict. In 2010, he tried the case of Sullins v. Exxon Mobil Corporation in the Northern District of California, obtaining a jury verdict for the defense in July 2010 and a bench trial judgment for the defense on the remaining claims in January 2011. In 2010, he obtained summary judgment in D&H v. Exxon Mobil Corporation, which was affirmed in full on appeal in 2011. Appellate Experience His significant appellate victories include the landmark environmental decision Consumer Advocacy Group v. Exxon Mobil Corporation, 104 Cal. App. 4th 438 (2002), where the California Court of Appeal held that "passive migration" or "continued presence" of chemicals in soil or water did not constitute a "discharge or release" under Prop 65. Other significant appeals include: Consumer Defense Group v. Shell Oil Company, et al., Cal. Ct. of Appeal, 4th App. Dist. Case No. G034935 (2006 (unpub.)) (same issue as Consumer Advocacy Group v. Exxon Mobil Corporation); Kashani v. Tsann Kuen China Enterprise Co., Ltd., 118 Cal.App.4th 531 (2004) (defined summary judgment burdens of proof on affirmative defenses of illegality and violation of public policy in matter involving contract for export of computer technology from Taiwan and China to Iran by US citizens); and Mylan Laboratories Inc. v. Soon-Shiong, 76 Cal. App. 4th 71 (1999) (established that a non-party can simply file a motion to assert a privilege in a pending action without intervening to become a party). He also obtained Jeffrey J. Parker www.sheppardmullin.com
California Supreme Court review in D.J. Nelson v. Exxon Mobil Corporation, Cook Endeavors v. Superior Court,
179 Cal. App. 4th 633 (2009); reviewed granted (2010) (addressing the effect on punitive damages of a transfer
of the claims on which such damages are sought; case settled before oral argument).
Representative Environmental Regulatory and Proposition 65 Experience
For over 25 years Jeff has advised clients with respect to conducting environmental and health safety
investigations and remediation, as well as associated community and governmental relations issues. Examples
include:
■ preparing responses to California Water Code § 13267 and § 13304 orders issued by the Regional Water
Quality Control Board; and
■ working with client personnel and outside consultants on complex and comprehensive investigation and
remediation projects and related regulatory submissions, as well as interacting and negotiating with
community groups, neighbors, Regional Water Quality Control Boards, the DTSC, local oversight program
agencies, and State and County prosecutors.
Jeff's Prop 65 experience includes development of Prop 65 warnings programs, advice on product
reformulation, response to pre-lawsuit notices, and defense of lawsuits filed by the California Attorney General,
County District Attorneys, and private enforcers related to alleged groundwater contamination and alleged
exposure to chemicals in consumer products and occupational settings. Examples of matters alleging
groundwater contamination involve industrial properties, refineries, bulk storage facilities, and service stations.
His consumer product cases have involved alleged exposure to numerous listed chemicals, including chromium
in leather goods; diesel emissions from school buses; phthalates in cosmetic bags/cases, eyewear and
accessories, and dozens of consumer products; titanium dioxide in makeup; phenolphthalein and radionuclides
in consumer water-testing products; benzene from using propane cooking appliances; toluene from
manufacture of window coverings; numerous chemicals in hot mix asphalt, floor coverings, and new homes;
and lead in cookware, computer power and other cords, electronics, and artificial turf.
Honors
Lawyer of the Year – Environmental Litigation, Best Lawyers, 2020
Best Lawyer in America, Best Lawyers, 2013-2021
Recommended Lawyer – Environment, Legal 500, 2019-2020
Leading Lawyer, Chambers USA, 2012-2016
Profiled by Los Angeles Business Journal as one of "L.A.'s Leading Environmental Lawyers."
Articles
Real Estate, Land Use & Environmental Law Blog Posts
■ "Under the Radar Changes to Proposition 65 – OEHHA Issues New “Guidance” For Web Purchases (Is it an
Illegal 'Underground Regulation'?)," March 8, 2018
■ "WARNING: Prop 65 Has Changed – If Your Product Is Sold In California Or You Do Business In California, Pay
Attention," January 16, 2018
Jeffrey J. Parker www.sheppardmullin.comMedia Mentions Retailers Get Help from Lawsuits When New Prop 65 Regulations Take Effect Legal News Line, 02.27.2018 Memberships Member, California State Bar Member, Litigation and Environmental Law Sections of the State Bar of California Member, Litigation and Environmental Law Sections of the Los Angeles County Bar Association Member, California Association of Business Trial Lawyers Member, National Aerospace Engineering Honor Society Member, National Engineering Honor Society Practices Real Estate and Land Use Environmental Litigation Environmental Litigation Toxic Tort and Product Liability Proposition 65 Industries Aerospace, Defense & Government Services Cannabis Construction Energy, Infrastructure and Project Finance Financial Services Life Sciences Retail Sports Transportation Trucking and Logistics Education J.D., University of Southern California, 1991, articles editor and published author for the Southern California Law Review Jeffrey J. Parker www.sheppardmullin.com
B.S., Aerospace Engineering, University of Notre Dame, 1987, with honors Admissions California U.S. District Courts for the Southern, Central, Eastern and Northern Districts of California U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Jeffrey J. Parker www.sheppardmullin.com
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